


can i hold your hand?

by turtwig_trooper



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 02:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20575109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtwig_trooper/pseuds/turtwig_trooper
Summary: “Slow down, can I hold your hand?” Nico asked, scooting closer.“Please.”





	can i hold your hand?

Nico was not in the mood for any bullshit today. He’d already been bumped by two people in the hallways and he didn’t think he could stand one more person touching his most prized possession, his jacket. 

There was a reason he never took it off. The long sleeves helped hide something he didn’t want to see. He didn’t think others would want to, either, like Hazel.

Especially Hazel. 

She’d progressively grew more and more protective of him since she started dating Frank Zhang, a nice Asian boy who visited their house sometimes. Nice people were easier to take advantage of. Hazel wouldn’t let him. 

Lately, Hazel had been disappearing off with Frank more often. It kind of hurt. 

He knew he had to get an English tutor soon or he’d fail ninth grade. Again. It was really quite pathetic, wasn’t it? Not being able to make it past your freshman year? He could quite easily pass as a freshman though. Maybe even a seventh grader. His height was misleading and it bothered him greatly. 

Only one problem: Where the fuck are you supposed to get an English tutor? His school only offered math tutoring, and that left only a couple of options, of which were to learn it online (boring and it made his eyes hurt), fail (not good), or to ask Hazel (which meant he had to tell Hazel that he was going to fail). 

He really wished Bianca were here. It was so much better when she was around, until that no-good Percy Jackson went and ruined it all for him. Imagine having your best friend, who was also your sister, die, because a guy you used to have a crush on wanted to take her to a junkyard to hang out. 

Sometimes he could still feel her presence beside him, lingering, like it didn’t want to leave. Nico didn’t want it to leave either. It was comforting to visit her grave often. 

He never forgave Percy. This was the turning point of his place at school. From the short emo guy to the angry loser who held grudges for _ forever. _ You can imagine where that got him. 

Naturally, he’d ask Hazel. Hazel had been his only confidant for a year going on two. 

“Hey, _ sorella, _I need to ask you something.” 

“What’s up, Nico?” she responded turning around to face him. 

“I, ah, I kind of need to get an English tutor.” he said sheepishly, looking away. 

There was a lot of scolding and frantic questions that Nico didn’t remember. He didn’t want to remember, anyways. 

“Frank knows a guy named Will. He goes to the same school as you. Wait - give a moment, I’ll write down his number.” 

Nico shrugged. If Will was a pain in the ass, there was no reason he couldn’t just fail and do the year over. It was just hard seeing Hazel’s face scrunch up in disappointment. He liked his sister too much. 

“Here, don’t lose it.” She handed him a slip of paper and smiled. “Please don’t mess it up again this year, alright?” 

“Alright. _ Lo prometto, _” he took it and returned her smile half-heartedly. 

* * *

“Hey. Nico di Angelo, right?” 

There’s an arm on his shoulder. He jumped, leaping away and staring at the boy behind him with wide eyes. 

Wavy blonde hair. Freckled cheeks. Green plaid, tanned skin, and a smile bigger than the sun itself. Nico would rather fail than be seen with a guy who radiated such happiness without even speaking to him. And you know what’s worse? 

This blonde guy was fucking cute, goddammit. It was no mystery that Nico was liked boys - in fact, Annabeth (Percy Jackson’s girlfriend) had to restrain him from kissing Percy the week before Bianca passed. 

“_ Cazzo di Gesù, _don’t fucking do that, dude!” he snapped, glaring at him. 

Nico had been waiting by the house where Hazel had dropped him off at. He’d insisted that he was fine walking, but Hazel seemed set in driving him herself. Maybe to make sure to actually went. Totally to make sure he actually went. 

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’m Will.” he held out his hand for a handshake, which was rejected. There was a flash of uncertainty on Will’s face when opened the door. 

Nico snorted. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m Nico di Angelo.”

“Cool! Let’s get inside, then. I’ll bet you’re cold.” 

“Not really.” 

The uncertain look crossed Will’s face again. Funny. 

It wasn’t until two more tutoring sessions that Nico realized he would _ not _be able to be this unfriendly with Will unless he did indeed want to fail and see Hazel’s ultimate look of shame. 

And he did not. 

So that’s why he stopped jerking away whenever Will reached over to correct his paper. And it’s also why he stopped being so distant.

“Hey Mr. Sunshine, are you gonna stop staring or what?” 

Will blinked and tore his gaze away from Nico’s face. 

* * *

Somebody was stroking his hair, and boy did it feel good. It felt absolutely heavenly considering how touch-starved he was. In fact-

Hold up, somebody was stroking his hair?

Nico’s eyes flew open and he shot forward, smashing his forehead against somebody else’s. He recoiled, pulling back and grimacing as he rubbed his head. 

“_ Merda! Che cazzo sta succedendo?! _” he yelled, shifting around. 

Oh right, he’d fallen asleep against Will’s chest. 

_ He’d fallen asleep against Will’s chest?!??! _

  
“I can’t understand you. What are you even saying?” 

Nico blinked twice and noticed Will was staring at him, looking a little concerned. Actually, a lot concerned. He realized his legs were tangled between the blonde’s, and a blush crept up to his cheeks. 

He’d been doing so well without touching somebody else intimately and now he had to go screw it all up. Imagine falling asleep embracing your tutor. Don’t imagine, actually. It was happening right now. 

Oh, right, Will was still staring at him in shock. 

“It’s Italian, and what the fuck happened?!” 

“Don’t swear!” Will scolded, clasping his hands over Nico’s mouth. Nico shuffled backwards, avoiding contact with Will and pushing his hands away. 

“_ Lo farò se voglio. _Care to tell me what happened?” 

“Well, I’ve kinda had this really big crush on you since you tried to kiss Percy a bit ago, so I asked Hazel - your sister - if she could set me up with you and she said she’d think about it. So I kinda scored when you came here for tutoring, and then you fell asleep and I really wanted to touch you so I ended up touching your hair and your face and-” 

“Slow down, _ scemo, _can I hold your hand?” Nico asked, scooting closer. 

“Please.” 


End file.
